1958 50s fifties Silver Bristol 406S 2216 cc, 406S one-off prototype at the Ocean Speed Revival Southport Sprint on Marine Drive, classic and speed on a closed public road_Coastal Road historic sprint course, Merseyside, UK
the Bristol Aeroplane Company made its first car in 1946. It was based on pre-existing BMW technology, rescued from Eisenach at the end of World War II. The Bristol 400 essentially combined the best features of the pre-war BMW models, coupling the chassis of the 326 with the race-bred engine of the 328. The Bristol engine For many enthusiasts, the Bristol engine alone is worth the price of admission. Like many of the best “classic” designs, it now seems very old-fashioned in some respects, but appears hardly to have aged at all in others. On the old-fashioned side, it is a long-stroke, physically tall engine with what Setright described as “a forest of pushrods” operating the valve gear. Conversely, it has very modern-looking hemispherical combustion chambers with short and straight inlet and exhaust ports, benefits of which include high specific output, commendable fuel economy and a zestful and free-revving nature. The Bristol engine is based on a pre-war BMW design which, according to Jeff Daniels's Driving Force, can trace its origins back even further to the Austin Seven, which was built under licence by Dixi in Germany. When BMW acquired Dixi at the end of the 1920s, it embarked on a series of engine developments. With increases in bore and stroke, an increase in distance between the bore centres, two more cylinders and two additional main bearings – by which time it bore very little resemblance indeed to the original Austin Seven unit – the 747cc four had become a 1,971cc six by 1935. The final development was an all-new aluminium alloy “hemi” cylinder head for the BMW 328 sports car. The advantages of hemi heads were well understood by this time, and they were used on virtually all of the leading contemporary racing cars, such as the Mercedes and Auto Union “Silver Arrows”. However, there was a practical difficulty in operating the valves with a single camshaft, since the inlet and exhaust valves were necessarily on opposite sides of the engine.
Size: 4713px × 3142px
Location: Southport, UK
Photo credit: © ZarkePix / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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